Tax hikes will not solve budget problems

11:16 PM,
Jan. 2, 2013

Written by

Thomas Fairfax Landstreet

President Obama's desire to raise taxes on the so-called wealthy is politically expedient but not good economic policy. Since the 2008 recession, we have witnessed two distinct and opposite approaches to fiscal management at the state level. The results are worth examining.

First, a comment about federalism: It has its advantages. States often act as petri dishes for economic policy experiments. In the best case, the successful policies will be adopted at the federal level. But that's not the case today.

The president is negotiating to raise taxes on higher wage earners (mostly private ...